A small B.C. village that endured the hottest temperatures ever recorded in Canada for days on end this week was engulfed in flames Wednesday night and residents were forced to flee, many without their belongings.
Lytton, British Columbia Mayor Jan Polderman signed an evacuation order last night about 6 p.m. Pacific Time, telling everyone in the community of about 250 people to leave.
“It’s dire. The whole town is on fire,” Polderman told CBC News. “It took, like, a whole 15 minutes from the first sign of smoke to, all of a sudden, there being fire everywhere.”
Residents were forced to flee, leaving livestock, pets and prized possessions behind, literally fleeing for their lives with just the clothes on their backs.
Polderman tells CTV News Canada that he drove to town one more time after issuing the order and was horrified by what he saw. “The structures were engulfed, there was smoke everywhere, the wires were down,” he says.
The British Columbia Wildfire Service says resources are being sent to deal with the Lytton blaze. The service says the hot, dry, and windy conditions have created extreme fire danger in the region.
At least three major wildfires were burning in B.C. before the one in Lytton grew out of control. Erica Berg, a provincial fire information officer, said 26 new fires had begun in the last couple of days and the risk across most of the province is rated at high to extreme.
Wednesday night, winds of up to 71 kilometres an hour (44 mph) were pushing the fire north into the community as of 7 p.m. PT, according to CBC meteorologist Johanna Wagstaffe. She said the hot, dry and windy conditions in the area could mean the fire is moving at 10 or even 20 kilometres an hour.
